1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the fashioning of extensions on ammunition magazines and more particularly to pull-tab and loop handle extensions that are positioned on the floor end of ammunition magazines by either replacing the floor plate, modifying the floor plate or extending the side magazine walls in order to aid with both the extraction of said ammunition magazine from ammunition pouches and the insertion into a weapon.
2. Background of the Invention
The use of loops to aid in the removal of ammunition magazines from a storage compartment is known in the prior art. Likewise, the use of handle attachments or tabs or other extensions to carry ammunition magazines and other objects is also known. These attachments and modifications, while suitable for their individual purposes, are not as suitable for the purpose of this invention, namely providing an extension that is of one piece with an ammunition magazine or with the floor plate of said magazine for the purpose of extraction of said magazine from ammunition pouches worn on the user. For example, the current practice of forming duct tape tabs and cord loops on ammunition magazines; U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,815 to Fitzpatrick; U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,487 to Vaid; U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,962 to Musgrave; U.S. Pat. No. 2,825,991 to Stadelmann; U.S. Pat. No. 2,205,967 to Wise; U.S. Pat. No. 1,797,951 to Gaidos; U.S. Pat. No. 1,245,499 to Orme; U.S. Pat. No. 888,560 to White; and U.S. Pat. No. D-33,384 are all illustrative of the prior art.
Currently, in the field, soldiers use either loops of parachute cord attached to ammunition magazines by duct tape or they form tabs by folding duct tape over the butt end of their ammunition magazines. The loops and tabs aid soldiers in the extraction of said magazines from ammunition pouches carried on the user. However, the duct tape tends to wear and often needs replaced. The duct tape also leaves a sticky residue when removed and provides no other benefit other than the increased friction or fastening a pull loop to the ammunition magazine. Soldiers have also extracted the inside portion of a length of parachute cord, leaving the casing, tied said casing together and positioned the formed loop so that it encircles the floor plate of an ammunition magazine before they replaced said floor plate, with the loop, in the magazine. Thus they have formed a loop, extending from the bottom of the magazine.
While the aforementioned inventions accomplish their individual objectives, they do not describe an integral extension that is used primarily for the extraction of ammunition magazines from ammunition pouches, as evidenced by the duct tape modifications used in the field. Handle and loop attachments used in the prior art are mainly used for affixing an ammunition magazine to other objects, such as clothing or vehicles. In one of the two cases where handle attachments are used for extraction, the handle is a simple metal wire forming a loop and is not adapted for use in the various positions a user may wear an ammunition pouch. There are also disadvantages with the duct tape modifications, particularly regarding removal and in the amount of slack in a loop of parachute cord. Fitzpatrick '815 discloses a handle attached to an external sleeve, not a handle integral with the walls of the magazine. None of the other disclosed patents have a handle integral with the walls of the magazine. In this respect, the extensions according to the present invention depart substantially from the usual designs in the prior art. In doing so, this invention provides handle extensions integral with the walls of ammunition magazines that are primarily designed for the purpose of aiding the extraction of ammunition magazines from pouches worn on the user.